My Ball Python tested positive for Nidovirus

[Bogertophis]

You know I read a story and an exchange between a buyer and big breeder a year or so ago. I'll leave the breeder's name off of this because this was an alleged situation and I don't know how true it is. Buyer picked up a handful of snakes from the breeder, over time found that they had nido, reached out to the breeder, didn't have a good experience, and took to forums/FB to comment on the situation.

Two things happened as a result of this. One, the breeder got involved and began displaying some pretty poor customer service, and two and more importantly, the fans of this big breeder started attacking the buyer on his posts. Of course all the responses weren't an attack on the buyer, but there was a lot of blame shifting, excuses, alternate theories, etc etc.

I do think if you have a bad experience with a breeder you should let the community know, but at the same time I understand why some people might be hesitant to do so based on situations like that one.

I remember that "hot mess", & much of this seems to come down to how much is not yet known about Nido, & how to interpret tests done. New snakes are under so much stress (shipping & whole new environment) & that naturally lowers the ability of their immune system to function well. This goes back to what I always tell people when they get a new snake of any age: treat it like a patient in ICU (intensive care unit in the hospital) or like a newborn human baby for a while- it needs rest & good food, with a low-stress environment & optimal conditions, while it's body recovers from all it has been exposed to. I can see where even if breeders test for Nido, the snakes they ship out could have tested negative for it & potentially then later, under stress, test positive for it. What a nightmare for everyone.